How Did Louis Xiv Create A Bureaucracy

Louis XIV’s excessive grandeur made the French economy weak. His palace at Versaille, his constant need to gain more territory, and the crumbling of France’s economic system and caused the greatest revolution the world has ever seen. His grandiose estate, the palace at Versailles, required half of Louis XIV’s revenues to maintain. Although this palace may have kept up appearances for the sake of foreign

Peter The Great should be granted the title of "Most Absolute Monarch" because he created a strong navy, recognized his army according to Western standards, secularized schools, administrative and territorial divisions of the country. Peter focused on the development of science and recruited several experts to educate his people about technological advancements. He concentrated on developing commerce and industry and created a gentrified bourgeoisie population. Mirroring Western culture, he modernized the Russian alphabet, introduced the Julian calendar, and established the first Russian newspaper. Peter was a far-sighted and skillful diplomat who abolished Russia's archaic form of government and appointed a viable

Once Mongol power declined in the 14th and 15th centuries, Moscow surfaced as Russia’s new capital. The first Tsar (ruler) of the Russians, Grand Duke Ivan IV, was crowned in 1547. In 1618, Michael I, the first of the Romanovs, was crowned tsar. Russia continued to expand throughout Siberia in the 17th century to the Pacific Ocean. Under the rule of Peter the Great, from 1682-1725, Russia’s power was extended to the Baltic Sea, and its capital shifted to the newly founded city of Saint Petersburg; a move that has been described as a "window opened upon Europe” to replace its long-standing cultural and economic center, Moscow. By the turn of the 18th century, the Russians had expanded their empire further into Europe and Asia (Gall, 2012).

Peter the Great was born to Tsar Alexis and grew up differently than many people of his time. “Peter proved a healthy child, lively and inquisitive. It is probably significant to his development that his mother’s former guardian, Artamon Sergeyevich Matveyev, had raised her in an atmosphere open to progressive influences from the West” (Britannica Academica). The fact that he grew up with a significant figure in his life who favored the west shaped his views in a major. Later in his reign, he focused on western civilization and how they thrived. Peter tried to implicate the same influences in Russia to further try and modernize and advance the culture, society, and government. Peter was a very lively and energetic child. “When Alexis died in 1676 Peter was only four years old. His elder half-brother, a sickly youth, then succeeded to the throne as Fyodor III” (Britannica

     During this same time Peter the Great sought to ¡°westernize¡± Russia. An autocratic tsar who had absoluter power, he did not wish to share it with his royal court. He moved the capital to St. Petersburg, and absorbed western intellectual and cultural trends. He forced all his nobles to cut of their beards, and instructed them to learn modern Western dances. Russia historically had an autocratic tsar like Peter, + the nobles have no political clout in the government. However, the nobles in Russia are huge landowners and had enormous powers over the serfs on their estates. This economic power, b/c serfs were almost like slaves, made them wealthy + prosperous. Thus, although Peter the Great rules without the input of anyone else, the nobles were westernized under his rule + enjoyed power over their serfs and economic gains.

Of all the absolute rulers in Europe, by far the best example of one, and the most powerful, was Louis XIV of France. Although Louis had some failures, he also had many successes. He controlled France’s money and had many different ways to get, as well as keep his power, and he knew how to delegate jobs to smart, but loyal people.

Peter the Great made it his ambition to pursue military growth in Russia. What started out as a defenseless country, ended as an army of 210,000 men. “At his (assumption of the throne) Russia had no armed forces except for the inefficient and untrustworthy Streltsy (hereditary military units).”- Document F. Peter the Great had many accomplishments. His greatest was the army, he formed in Russia. With all the power concentrated in his hands, Peter the Great was able to get things done efficiently and effectively. It took less time because, under the rule of absolutism, no one could question Peter’s work or capabilities. He built a professional army of 210,0000 men, created a navy and fleet of forty-eight ships and smaller vessels. Rather than being an insignificant vulnerable country, Russia was made into a dominant country. The amount of power that Russia had acquired was feared by other countries. Absolutism prevented many rebellions because of a new found fear. Many countries and people were afraid of Russia’s potential to become a dominate country. However, this was beneficial for absolutist leaders because no one would question or rebel against their actions. Many historians argue that Peter the Great’s method of absolutism was an excuse for tyranny. However, his achievements for the country of Russia outweigh the costs of inequality and unshared wealth. If Peter the

Peter recognized that his country was falling behind the European countries in knowledge, technology, trade, and governing ability. Using his absolute power as a czar, he brought in foreign advisers to help him modernize, westernize and educate his people. Peter had a great respect for Europe, and his reforms had a lasting influence in Russia, though there was of course opposition from the more conservative nobles.

As an enlightened despot, it was common for rulers to change every law and policy possible in order to make life better for their people as according to enlightenment ideals. The ruler was seen as being in charge only to serve the people (Document 3). The ruler was to put the needs of his people before the needs of himself, and could not do anything that would harm them (Document 4). In Russia, this was prominent amongst rulers. Peter the Great believed and acted on these ideas. He offered rights to the serfs in order to help them and made it so that anyone, no matter of their social standing, would suffer the same consequences for breaking the laws (Document 10, 6). According to Document 3, “the ruler and the ruled can be happy only if they are firmly united.” This shows how the people expected their rulers in this time to meet their needs to make them happy and to help them flourish as a

Next, Peter the Great reformed Russia by modernizing Russia’s military. Before he came to power, Russia’s army was amatuer and navy nearly nonexistent thanks to the lack of viable coastline. Since Russia lacked the knowledge and skill, he brought in foreign experts and encouraged his own soldiers to learn about shipbuilding in order to develop a strong navy (Doc 11). He established a standing army and abolished the Streltsi, bringing in European professionals to command the units. He acquired territory in Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, went to war against the Ottoman Empire in order to access the Black Sea, and later defeated the Swedish army and establish the city of St. Petersburg on the Neva River; this was named Russia’s “window to Europe”.

Peter the Great was a descendant of the Romanov family who started his co-rule with his brother since he was ten years old. When his brother died in 1896, only then did Peter become the sole tsar of Russia. However, at the time, Russia did not have a developed military, government, or technology as that of the other countries in Europe. At the start of the Peter’s reign as tsar, he had taken part in the conquest against the Ottoman Empire in an effort to gain land in order to secure a Russian port in the coast of the Black Sea. In Compared to Europe, Russia was much less advanced.

French minister Richelieu symbolized absolutism in many ways. With his policy of total subordination of all groups and institutions to the French monarchy, Richelieu worked to break the power of nobility. This is because French nobility’s selfish and independent ways went against the the crown’s goal to centralize the state. To break it Richelieu leveled castles, which were a symbol of feudal independence. He also destroyed aristocratic conspires, with speedy executions. In addition to this Richelieu’s genius is best reflected in the administrative system he established. Extending the use of royal commissioners, known as intendants giving them responsibility for justice, police, and finances in each of Frances 32 generalities or districts.

The 17th and 18th centuries were a tumultuous time for France and its colonies, as the slave trade grew and power shifted from nobles to the king, and the system of government slowly changed. The goal of absolutism was stability, order, and to achieve a unified state, building the power and strength of France, and ultimately of its Sun King. However, this shift in power caused tension which came to a peak in 1789 at the start of the French Revolution with the storming of the Bastille, as well as delegitimized the authority of the monarchy. Louis XIV curbed the power of the nobles in order to create a standing army and absorb more power for an absolutist regime, and instead created intendants, or nobles of the robe chosen from the upper middle class, to help manage the country. The cruelty of the slave trade in the New World caused a growing unrest among the French people. This in combination with the absolutist rule beginning with Louis XIV in France angered many, resulted in revolts breaking out, and eventually led to the French Revolution.

The construction of the Palace of Versailles is one of the most significant commissions that Louis XIV took upon, and the palace soon became the center of cultural and political activity in both France and the rest of Europe, which was a crucial element of Louis’s amplification of power. The cultural metaphor of absolutism was essentially enacted in the construction of Versailles, which allowed him to take control over society. Le Château de Versailles was carried out through four building campaigns and took over twenty years to form the hunting lodge into the palace. Versailles soon became the symbol of wealth and absolute power, and serves as the prime example of the baroque style. The lavish design of the palace became imitated around the

France's absolute monarchy had many changes toward the end of the eighteenth century. Louis XIV, in his attempts to centralize his authority and also lessen the power of the aristocrats, had planned out an intendant system. The intendants were like governors. They would oversee one region of the country. These intendants did not govern the region in which they lived and were chosen from other than the aristocracy. This insured that